If more or less phonetically different sounds occur in the same phonetic contexts they are called allophones of different phonemes.

· the method of distinctive oppositions

It consists in finding as many pairs of words as possible which differ in one phoneme only (pen – then, box – fox). The substitution of one sound by another is called commutation test (when the meaning changes together with the change of sounds we deal with different phonemes (pen – then). If the meaning is not changed we deal with different variants of the same phoneme (believe - dark /l/ & light /l/ - different positional variants of the phoneme /l/).

№6 Functional aspect of speech sound

A social function of speech sounds manifest itself in their role in forming syllables, words, word combinations and sentences. A social function of speech sounds is determined by social and territorial stratification of the language. One’s pronunciation may change in accordance with a social situation and the contents of information.

· In informal situations we may observe certain phonetic modifications : accidental assimilations (give me /gimmi/, let me /lemmi/), non-standard elisions (phonetics /f’netiks/, the next day /DE'neksdei/), the simplification of the diphthongs – the omission of glides (take it /‘tekit/, I’m /am/).

· In formal situations speech sounds are realized very distinctly. Assimilations and elisions are only established. There is no simplification of the diphthongs.

The social function of speech sounds also signifies one’s origin. That is the place a person comes from. A representative of Cockney dialect pronounces insread of milk /milk/ - milk /mivk/; lady /leidi/ - lady /laidi/.

№3 Articulatory and phisiological classification of english consunant

According to the work of the vocal cords and the force of escalation consonants are subdivided into voice and voiceless voice consonant [v], [3]. Voiceless consonant are [p, t , k ,s ,f, th, h ,sh].

The force of escalation and the degree of muscular tension are greatly in the production of voiceless consonant they are call by the letting word forties which means strong and anagatic. Voice consonants are called leanest means soft and week. Because of force of escalation and the degree of muscular in their articulation are wickers.

According the apposition to active organs of speech against point of articulation. Consonant of English glottal. Labial dental be consonant are produced with both lips, they are [p, t, n, w], and [п, п’, б, б’, н, н’]. Labial dental consonants are articulated with the Lowell lip against the age the upper teeth, thy are the [f, v] and [ф, ф’, в, в’].

According to the apposition of the tip of the tongue they may be:

a)dorsum

b) apical

c)cacuminal

The principal of consonant classification is rather universal the only difference is that (Vasiliev, Torsuev, Dyakushina, Jimson) give more detailed and praises enunciations of active organs of speech.

Trakterov, Torsuev and Vasiliev and other phoneticians consider the principal of consonant classification according of the manner of noise production and the type of abstraction to be one of the most important and classified consonants according to this principal very correctly logically thoroughly. First of all they suggest a classification of consonants according to the manner of noise production from a viewpoint of the closure, which is formed in their articulation. It may be: 1) complete closure, the occlusive (stop or closive) and nuzzle consonants are produced [p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, ng] and R.S. [п, б, к, г, п’, б’, т’, д’, к’, г’, м’, н’, м, н]. 2) incomplete closure, than constrictive are produced: E.S. [f,v,th, th,h,s,z,sh,3,w,j,r] and R.S. [ф,в,с,з,х,ф’,в’,с’,з’,ж,ш,ж’,ш’,й,л,л’]. 3) the combination of the occlusive construction or affricates are produced [sh’3] R.S. [ц,ч]. 4) intermitted closure, then rolled or trilled consonants are produced R.S. [р, р’].

№4 Differenses in the basis of English and Russian consonants and their pecularities

In differences in the articulated basis between two languages are in the general tendencies their native speakers have they make in silence, in the way they coordinate the work of the abstructure and vibrator mechanisms (leanest and forties articulation) they effect and transitions (close and lose transitions). Which give rise to the differences in the system of English consonants and in Russian are the following:

1) The English for lingual consonants are articulated with the appear alveolar of the tip of the tongue. The Russian for lingual consonants are mainly dorsum: in their articulation the tip of the tongue is passive and lowered, the blade is place against the upper teeth. The Russian for lingual dorsum are: /т, т’, д’, н, н’, с, с’, з, з’, ч’, ц/. The Russian for lingual consonants are only: /л, л’, ш, ш’, ж, ж’/.

2) In the production of Russian consonants the ball of the tongue is mainly in the front mid part of the mouse resonator. When Russian soft for lingual’s are produced the muscular tension is concentrate in the “bonehead up” from middle part; on the soft back lingual consonants in the middle part of the langue.

3) The English sound [w] are pronouns with back secondary fours, formed by the back part of the tongue which is razed to the soft palate simultaneously, with the information of the primary forms is formed the lips, which are rounded but not protruded, as it happens when the Russian sound [y] is pronounced. The bilabial [w] which is pronounced with a round narrowing is very often miss pronounced by the Russian leanest. They use the labial dental [в] or English [v], which are pronounce with a instead of the English sound [w]. The primary focus in the articulation of word “dark” is formed by the tip of the tongue pressed against the teeth ridge in the initiate position plosies sounds [p, t, k] are aspirated, when followed by a stressed vowel and not pressed by English sound [s].

4) The English voiceless forties sound [p, t, k, f, s, sh, tsh] are pronouns more energetically than similar Russian consonants. The English voice consonants sounds [b, d, g, v, th, z, 3, d3] are not replaced by the corresponding voiceless sounds in word final position and before voiceless consonants “big” and “table”.

5) Consonants phonemes in English which have no counter parts in Russian are; the following constrictive [w]; [th]; the voice be centurial [d3]; the first media sonorant [r]; the back lingual nuzzle sonorant sound [ng]; the glottal fricative sound [h].

Consonant phonemes in Russia which have no counter parts in English are the following:

- the palatalisate consonants [п’, б’, т’, д’, к’, г’, м’, н’, ф’, в’, с’, з’, р’];

- the voiceless unicentral affricate [ц];

- the rolled alveolar sonorant [p];

- back lingual fricassees voiceless [x].

№7 Articulatory transitions of vowel and consonant phonemes

In the process of speech, that is in the process of transition from the articulatory work of one sound to the articulatory work of the neighboring one, sounds are modified. These modifications can be conditioned:

a) by the complementary distribution of the phonemes;

b) by the contextual variations in which phonems may occur at the junction of words;

c) by the style of speech: official or rapid colloquial.

Assimilation is the chief factor under the influence of which the principal variants of phonemes are modified into subsidiary ones.

Assimilation is a modification of a consonant under the influence of a neighboring consonant.

When a consonant is modified under the influence of an adjacent vowel or vice versa this phenomenon is called adaptation or accommodation, e.g. tune, tea, cool.

To make the mechanism of articulatory transitions clear it should be viewed in detail in terms of the articulatory work of the speech producing mechanisms.

There are two ways of joining the sounds: (1) merging of stages – when the final stage of the first sound merges with the initial stage of the second sound, loose type of articulatory transition and (2) interpenetration of stages – when the final stage of the first sound penetrates not only the beginning but also the middle of the second sound – close type of articulatory transition. For example in the word law the two /l/ and /o:/ are joined by way of merging their stages.

Russian learners are apt to mispronounce English clusters /tn/, /dn/, /kt/, /gd/ because the mechanisms of the articulatory transitions from /t,d/ to /n/, from /k,g/ to /t,d/ in English and the Russian clusters /пт/, /кт/, /гд/ are different, that is, the timing of the work of the power, vibrator, resonator and obstructor mechanisms in English and Russian is different. For Example the Russian clusters /пт/, /кт/, /гд/ in аптека, факт, где /т,д/ are pronounced with an audible plosion of /п,к,г/.

When the two sounds are affected by assimilation, it may influence: 1) the work of the vocal cords; 2) the active organ of speech; 3) the manner of noise production; 4) both: the place of articulation and the manner of noise production.

№13 American based pronunciation

American English shows a lesser degree of dialect than British due to some historical factors: the existence of standard English when first English settlers came to America, the high mobility of population, internal migrations of different communities. So there are 3 types of American language – 1. the eastern type (is spoken in new England, in New York city, it bears a remarkable resemblance to southern English.) 2. The southern type (used in south and south-east of USA, it possesses a striking distinctive feature – vowel drawl.) 3. general American.(is spoken in Atlantic states: New York, new jersey y etc., it’s the pronunciation standard as its language is used by radio and TV.)

№8 English phonemes in writing

Language performs its function as a means of intercommunication not only in oral but also in written form. Therefore it is important to establish the relationship between orthography and pronunciation, that is letters and sounds, which represent them.

English dictionaries usually indicate the pronunciation of each individual word, because the English spelling system is very difficult. This is because 1) it represents two different languages, one of Romance and the other of Germanic origin; 2) the English spelling has remained essentially the same since the days of Caxton and the other early printers. As a result of this 60 symbols are used to represent vowels and diphthongs and 44 symbols are used to represent consonants in the written language. These symbols are separate letters or combinations of letters, which correspond to vowel and consonant phonemes. They are called graphemes. Graphemic symbols are included into angle brackets.

From the phonological point of view, a grapheme has a considerable number of allophonic references, due to the complementary distribution or free variation, in which a phoneme occurs. For example, the grapheme <o> in box is in reference with a more front allophone [o] in cot, where [o] is more back. The grapheme <t> in twice is in reference with a rounded allophone of [t] and with [t] post-alveolar in tree.

The knowledge of orthography is very important because changes in orthography are much slower than changes in phonology. Therefore there are a large number of rules of reading in modern English. Given below is a simplified table of some grapheme-phoneme correspondences, illustrated by typical contexts.

There are two notions in phonological literature which reflect the connection of orthography with syllables and morphemes: (a) syllabograph and (b) morphograph. The parts of a word which represent syllables graphically are called syllabographs. They may consist of a vowel, or a combination of vowels and consonants which corresponds to a syllable or syllables within the graphic norms of the analyzed.

Transcription is quite indispensable in transliteration of names of persons, geographical names, magazines, names of ships, etc. Transliteration is writing a word, or words, of one language in the letters of some other language.

№9 Syllable

Thought the basic phonological elements are phonemes, human intercommunication is actualized in syllables.

The syllable as a unit is difficult to define, thought native speakers of a language are usually able to state how many syllables there are in a particular word.

The syllable can be a single word: chair, a part of a word: English, a part of the grammatical form of a word: later.

The syllable analyzed from the acoustic and auditory, articulatory and functional points of view. The syllable can be viewed in connection with its graphic representation.

Acoustically and auditorily the syllable is characterized by the force of utterance, or accent, pitch of the voice, sonority and length, that is by prosodic features.

Acoustic properties of syllables are studied with the help of intonograph and spectrograph. Electroacoustic analysis made it possible to formulate some rules of syllable division. Spectrograms of Russian ГС syllabic structures show, that such syllables are characterized by some noise in the beginning of the vowel and by a vowel-like termination of the consonant: «ГС», it is of great importance for syllable division.

Auditorily the syllable is the smallest unit of perception: the listener identifies the whole of the syllable and only after the sounds contained.

The articulatory energy which constitutes the syllable results from the combined action of the power, vibrator, resonator and obstructor mechanisms.

Phonologically the syllable is regarded and defined in terms of its structural and functional properties.

Syllable in writing are called syllabographs and are closely connected with the morphemic structure of words.

The syllable as a phonological unit performs three functions: constitutive, distinctive, identificatory. They are closely connected.

The auditory image of a syllable can be shown in transcription: unknown, liner, maker. Parts of orthographic and phonetic syllables do not always coincide.

It is very important to observe correct syllable division when necessity arises to divide a word in writing. Division of words into syllables in writing (syllabographs) is based on morphological principles. The morphological principle of word division in orthography demands that the part of a word, which is separated, should be either a prefix, or a suffix, or a root (morphograph): un-divided, utter-ance, pun-ish, be-fore.

№10 Stress

Sentence stress is a greater prominence of words, which are made more or less prominent in an intonation group. The special prominence of accented words is achieved through the greater force of utterance and changes in the direction of voice pitch, constituting the nuclear tone.

The difference between stress and accent is based on the fact that in the case of stress the dominant perceptual component is loudness, in the case of accent it is pitch. Degrees of stress in an utterance correlate with the pitch range system. Nuclear stress is strongest – it carries the most important information. Non-nuclear stresses are subdivided into full and partial. Full stress occurs only in the head of an intonation group, partial stress occurs also in the prehead and tail. Partial stresses in the prehead are most frequently of a low variety, high partial stress can occur before a low head. Words given partial stress do not lose prominence completely, they may retain the whole quality of their vowels.

In tone-grups stress may undergo alternations under the influence of rhythm, but there are some rules concerning words that are usually stressed or unstressed in an utterance.

Given below is the list of words that are usually stressed:

Nouns. Adjectives. Numerals. Interjections. Demonstrative pronouns. Emphatic pronouns. Possessive pronouns: somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone, anything (used as subject). Indefinite negative pronouns some, any (expressing quality). Deferminatives: all, each, every, other, either, both. Proclitics: much, many, a little, a few. Notional verbs. Auxiliary verbs (negative contracted forms). Two-word prepositions. Two-word conjunctions. Particles: only, also, too, even, just.

The word that are usually unstressed:

Personal pronouns. Reflexive pronouns. Reciprocal pronouns. Relative pronouns (conjoint form). Indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone, something, anybody, anyone, anything (used as object). Indefinite pronouns some, any (when expressing quality). Auxiliary verbs (affirmative form). One-word prepositions and conjunctions. Articles. Particles: there, to. Modal verbs (contracted forms and general questions are exceptions).

The meaning of the verbs may, should, must changes depending on whether they are stressed or unstressed, e.g. You may go – possibility. You may go – permission.

Stresses in an utterance provide the basis for identification and understanding of the content, they help to perform constitutive, distinctive and identificatory function of intonation. These functions are performed jointly with pitch component of intonation.

№11 Strong and weak forms. Unstressed vocalism

In actual speech there is a great number of words which are pronounced in the weak or contracted form. They are more common than non-contracted or full forms. It applies to all styles and different manner of speech – formal or informal, slow or rapid tempo.

The use of weak and contracted forms:

1.If a word is stressed the strong form must be used.

2.Strong forms are used for a prepositions between an unstressed sullable and a pronoun, or at the end of the intonation group even if the word is unstressed, e.g. /aim kaming tu: ju/

3.Demonstrative pronouns always have strong form (even if not stressed), e.g. That’s exactly what I want.

4.Weak forms ending in /ae/ are not used before vowels.

5.The weak forms of words begging with /h/, e.g. have, has, he, him, etc. may not be /h/ - less.

6.Have as a main verb is usually in the strong form. In speech contracted forms with have should be used: I’ve, we’ve, they’ve (never he has, she has), e.g. I’ve, we’ve, they’ve a bit of a problem.

From the position of the Moscow and Leningrad phonological schools the relations between the vowel of full formation and /ae/ in the pairs mentioned above should be viewed differently.

The representatives of the Moscow phonological school considered such relations to be interallophonic, because /ae/ is considered by them in the pairs like /s^m/ - /saem/ to be an allophone of the /^/ phoneme.

The representative of the Leningrad school state that in the above examples /ae/ and /^/ undergo interphonemic changes and that they are separate phonemes.

In the Russian language vowels in unstressed syllables may coincide in speech. E.g. /o, a/ in the first pretonic syllable are both pronounced as /^/: /^/ ванс, /л/ лень.

The peculiarity of the unstressed vocalism of Russian is that an unstressed vowel never preserves its full form. Cases like potato, artistic are very common in English.

There are some digraphs in English which are pronounced in unstressed syllables either as /ae/ or /i/, e.g.

er – teacher

ar – mortar

or – motor

ei – foreign

ir – elixir

ie – ie hobbie

ou(s) – famous

№12 Intonation

Intonation is a complex unity of non-segmental, or prosodic features of speech: 1. melody, pitch of the voice; 2. sentence stress; 3. temporal characteristics (duration, tempo, pausation); 4. rhythm; 5. tamber (voice quality).

Intonation is very important. It organizes a sentence, determines communicative types of sentences and clauses, divides sentences into intonation groups, gives prominence to words and phrases, expresses contrasts and attitudes. The two main functions of intonation are: communicative and expressive.

There are two main approaches to the problem of intonation in Great Britain. One is known as a contour analysis and the other may be called grammatical.

The first is represented by a large group of phoneticians: H.Sweet, D.Jones, G.Palmer, L.Armstrong, I.Ward, R.Kingdon, J.O’Connor, A.Gimson and others. It is traditional and widely used. According to this approach the smallest unit to which linguistic meaning can be attached is a tone-group (sense-group). Their theory is based on the assumption that intonation consists of basic functional “blocks”. They pay much attention to these “blocks” but not to the way they are connected. Intonation is treated by them as a layer that is superimposed on the lexico-grammatical structure. In fact the aim of communication determines the intonation structure. In fact the aim of communication determines the intonation structure, not vice versa.

The grammatical approach to the study of intonation was worked out by M.Halliday. The main unit of intonation is a clause. Intonation is a complex of three systemic variables: tonality, tonicity and tone, which are connected with grammatical categories. Tonality marks the beginning and the end of a tone-group. Tonicity marks the focal point of each tone-group. Tone is the third unit in Halliday’s system. Tones can be primary and secondary. Then convey the attitude of the speaker. Halliday’s theory is based on the syntactical function of intonation.

The founder of the American school of intonation is K.Pike. In his book “The Intonation of American English” he considers “pitch phonemes” and “contours” to be the main units of intonation. He describes different contours and their meanings, but the word “meanings” stands apart from communicative function of intonation. A.Antipova in her “System of English intonation” characterizes the approach of the American school to the study of intonation system as “mechanical”.

№5 Articulatory and physiological classification of English vowel

The first linguist who tried to classify vowel sounds for all languages was D.Jones. He device the system of 8 cardinal vowels. The basis of the system is physiological.

Cardinal vowel #1 corresponds to the position of the front part of the tongue razed the gradual lowering of the tongue lowest position gives another point for cardinal point #5. The lowest front position of the tongue gives the point for cardinal #4. The upper back limit for the tongue position gives the point for cardinal #8. This position for cardinal vowels #1, 4, 5, 8 were copied from x-ray photographs the tongue positions between this points x-ray and equidistant points for #2, 3, 6, 7 were found. The symbols for the eight cardinal vowels are: 1 -i, 2 - e, 3 - ε, 4 - a, 5 - ^, 6 - o, 7 - ao, 8 - u .

Below we give some ruff cardinal vowels quality. French, German and Russian languages. 1) is a equivalent of the position is higher than for the Russian accented sound [и] in word пили. 2) is pronouns with position of the tongue narrower than for the Russian sound [е] the word тесть. 3) is similar to the Russian sound [э] in the word это. 4) is similar to the French [a] in word la. 5) is narrowly what is obtained by taken the lip rounded from the e.s. [o] in word hot. 6) is similar to the German sound [o] in word zonne. 7) is similar to the French [o] in word rose. 8) is similar to the German sound [u] in word gud.

Acoustically vowels differ dew their temporal colourly each vowel is characterized by it is all form (that is concentrations of energy in curtain frequency regions on the spectrogram). Russian phoneticians suggest a classification of a vowels according to the following principals: 1) position of the lips; 2) position of the tongue; 3) degree of tenseness and the character of the end; 4) length; 5) stability of articulation.

Phonetics –

• the branch of linguistics that studies word components of the phonetic system of the language.
• Concerned with human noises by which the thought is actualized or given audible shape + nature, fs, relation to the mng of these noises
• Most fundamental, basic ling brunch
• =grammar and lexicology

Components of phonetic system:

• segmental phonemes
• word stress
• syllabic structure
• intonation

3 branches of phonetics: psychological phonetics (articulatory\auditory aspects), acousticphonetics (physical properties of producing sounds), functional phonetics (phonology).

Acc to Sokolova: acoustic, articulatory, auditory ph-cs.

Aims –

• to refresh knowledge of general phonetics
• To enlarge knowledge and bring it to date
• To systematize elements of ph theory
• To get to know moot points and unsolved problems
• To know modern methods of phonetic and phonemic classifications

Articulatory ph-cs: study, description, classification of speech sounds as regards the production.

Methods of art. Ph-cs:

Subjective – method of direct observation.

• Observing movements of organs of speech
• Analyzing one’s own kinesthetic sensations during articulation
• Comparing results in auditory impression

Objective – using various instrumental techniques

• Palatography
• Photography
• x-ray
• cinematography
• x-ray photography

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